smoking out of homemade vap

i'm sure this will end up being a pure newbie question, but oh well lol. i made a homemade vaporizer out of a lightbulb as shown on here somewhere, but honestly not sure about how to smoke out of it. put a bit of herb in it last night, and took a lighter too it, and seems like at first, yea i got some vapor, made me cough my ass off, but then the shit started to smoke, is this normal? how's the best way to tell how much heat is too much? can you see the vapor if it's being done right?

Please believe me, I've done this a few times with some stupid friends, and it is definently not worth the effort.
Just smoke your bud, trust me. Vaporizing's only worth a shit if you go buy a real good one.

well
if you really want to know

break off the very bottom of the lightbulb
get a bottle cap
melt a hole and stick in a pen body
put weed in bulb
screw on bulb
put lighter on bottom
let it smoke
then unscrew top
inhale

its ok i guess but id rather buy the nice shit
i feel like im free basing weed when i smoke out of a bulb